• The fact that Marc Jacobs is "brazenly gay, has a messy love life and can’t stop posing half-naked in front of people" means that a branch of his store is a perfect fit for Provincetown, Mass, says Mike Albo. [NYT]

(1) Attendees at Sephora's party at the Angel Orensanz foundation last night included Lydia Hearst, Kelly Osbourne, Kat Von D, Nicky Hilton, Dani Stahl, Ali Wise, Jason Preston, Mike Satsky, Olivia Palermo, and Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss. The crowd, though, was more impressed by the presence of out-and-proud couple Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson (above, with half-sister Annabelle) than by performances by Ashanti and Natasha Bedingfield. [Elle/PMc]

Fashion magazines have a female target audience. But the look of many fashion magazines is controlled, to a large extent, by gay men. Is that a problem for the magazines? It could be. The interests of the gays and fashion-conscious women overlap, but not perfectly (see the Perez Hilton empire, example A). But is it really possible for a women's fashion magazine to become too gay? A brief perusal of Elle tells us: it just might be!

1) The New York City Ballet's 24th annual "Dance With the Dancers" party was sponsored by Elle and Ferragamo. Fabiola Beracasa, Zani Gugelman, Allison Sarofim, Robbie Myers, Joe Zee, and Olivia Chantecaille wore Roman-inspired outfits, while Tatum O'Neal had everyone wondering what was in her glass. [Elle]

Elle creative director Joe Zee is popular among colleagues. "I seriously don't know anyone who doesn't love Joe: he was the best thing that could have happened for morale there." No wonder he's so beloved: the free-spending Zee took an additional five friends and colleagues to the Paris and Milan ready-to-wear shows this year-included among them his rumored paramour, a former shop girl Keith Pollock. The bill for Zee's grand European tour-probably over $500,000-comes at an uncomfortable time. Elle publisher Hachette just slashed its web staff and is giving up office space at its Midtown headquarters; and grumbly bean counters are beginning to focus on the master stylist's extravagance. "The costs are out of control, and the boyfriend who is said to be reporting on fashion shoots is really at a Four Seasons getting a massage on the company tab," writes the cost-conscious tipster. Pollock-a former salesman whom Zee had placed at Elle's website-was spared the recent online cuts.

One expense line at Hachette that's been spared the French-owned magazine group's increasingly desperate cost-cutting: the travel and boyfriend-employing expenditure of Elle creative director Joe Zee. Embittered peons: gossip away.

Things are apparently a mess at fashion magazine Elle. A terrible reality show is has taken over the office, according to Ben Widdicombe. The show is called "Fashionista," it's produced by Tyra, and it will air on The CW later this year. It documents the search for a new assistant for creative director Joe Zee, even though he has an assistant already, one who is by all reports perfectly competent. So the show's contestants are just running around the office, getting in everyone's way with pointless "challenges," competing for a job they won't get. Meanwhile, an email we received from an anonymous tipster seems to suggest that maybe Mr. Zee, with his star-making new reality show on the way, might be helping to publicize the ouster of the mag's last reality show star, former fashion director Nina Garcia.

The founding editor of the ill-fated men's shopping title Vitals and a popular stylist, Zee is now the creative director at Elle.